A Sublette County man who fatally shot his friend July 11 in a Pinedale alleyway after a falling-out used reasonable force to preserve his life as the other man swung an animal trap at him, a special prosecutor has ruled.
The Sublette County Sheriff’s Office announced the decision Tuesday, about two weeks after special prosecutor and Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen issued it.
Craig Rice and Paul Browning were friends “for a number of years,” says Itzen’s decision letter. “They had a falling out over several different issues.”
But, Browning had Rice’s animal traps, and Rice had Browning’s free weights sets, the letter adds.
They arranged to return each other’s property in the alley behind Rice’s business, in Pinedale, on July 11.
The town was bustling, as the exchange coincided with a summer rendezvous festival.
Browning asked a third man to help him make the exchange.
“He also referred to Mr. Rice as a (expletive),” Itzen wrote.
Browning’s truck wouldn’t start, so the third man used his truck to go to town with Browning.
On the way to town, Browning noted that he didn’t bring a knife or gun “because he did not want trouble,” wrote Itzen.
At the alley, Browning grew upset because not all his weights were there.
According to the third man, Itzen wrote, Rice and Browning started arguing, with each accusing the other of being a liar and thief.
The third man could hear that Browning “was upset and talking towards Mr. Rice.” Rice backed up and drew a gun, the letter says.
“Mr. Rice shoots one time striking Mr. Browning in the chest,” Itzen added.
Rice noted that Browning held? one of the traps when he was shot.
Law enforcement arrived to find Browning’s body with one gunshot wound, and a trap next to the body, the prosecutor wrote.
Investigators collected the trap, which weighed about 2 pounds.
“Rice after the shooting retreated into his office building,” wrote Itzen. “Once inside he told individuals that he felt threatened as Mr. Browning advanced on him.”
The Interview
Investigators interviewed Rice, who described the “final confrontation” as a rapid escalation once Browning saw the missing weights.
Browning called him a “mother***er,” according to Rice’s interview. He then picked up a trap, called him the expletive again and said, “I’m going to kill you,” Itzen related from that interview.
Browning held the trap by the chain end and bore what Rice reportedly characterized as “rage in the eyes.”
Rice told investigators that he pleaded, “Please Paul don’t, please, please.”
Rice retreated as Browning started to swing the trap at him from 4 feet away, Itzen wrote.
“Rice describe (sic) that he was one hundred percent sure that Browning was going to kill him,” added the prosecutor. “At that point Rice discharged the weapon.”
Reputation
Itzen said Browning’s “reputation within the community” is a factor in his analysis.
A person named Brian Kelly years prior described an attack in which Browning grabbed him by the throat, and he ended up with a cut on his throat, the letter says.
In June of this year, Itzen wrote, Browning was threatening to kill a utility worker for turning off his water, then said he’d kill law enforcement officers who responded.
Itzen listed a 2021 physical fight at the grocery store, and a road rage incident a woman described.
Legal Analysis
Itzen wrote that if he prosecuted this case and it advanced to trial, Rice would likely advance a self-defense claim, which would put the burden on the prosecutor to disprove the claim.
“Given the facts as described above, the State could not meet that burden,” Itzen wrote.
Another question surfaces, of whether Rice’s conduct was reasonable.
State law says a person can return an attack with reasonable defensive force. It also says a person can use fatal self-defensive force when he has an “honest belief,” rooted in either real or apparent danger, that he or another person faces “imminent peril of death or serious bodily injury.”
Itzen wrote: “Given Mr. Browning’s statement of ‘I’m going to kill you’” and his advance with “an object that can cause serious injury or death after prolonged blows,” Rice’s defensive force was reasonable to preserve his life.
“As such, at this time, the state declines to prosecute this matter,” Itzen concluded. “However, if new evidence comes to light, this decision can be reviewed.”
The Sublette County Sheriff’s Office responded to the shooting at 1 p.m. that Friday.
Sheriff KC Lehr told Cowboy State Daily at the time that self-defense was being investigated as a possible factor.
Rice did not return a request for comment left at his business Wednesday afternoon by publication.
